What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stripes
One thing counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if the engine has been started since. Not run yet? Then leave the vehicle that way, wherever the car is — Stripes or Cotehill. Leave your motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Stripes. Already started? Pull over once safe, then turn everything off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Further down: the cases our technicians see, anywhere around Cumbria. Choose the one that fits.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Stripes forecourt
Imagine it: standing by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the cap you opened wasn't the right one. Anywhere around Stripes, then — Shell, BP, or anywhere else close by.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Just your tank has AdBlue; not one component past it has taken it in.
Your move: keep out of the car, however much the queue wants clearing. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Can't move the vehicle beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof kit makes a live forecourt safe, and so it can be drained in place.
At home in Stripes with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. Bought a container, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, after the fact. It happens on drives just off Peter Gate as frequently as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car has not been driven since, it is second to the pump case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue settles low in your tank and waits. A night standing alters nothing.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so nobody takes the vehicle off at breakfast. Then, ring. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether around Stripes or Cocklakes. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road around Stripes with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Quentin Gardens, perhaps, or the route to Carlisle — a trip of under 5 miles.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in by now. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a longer run, after the filter and pipework have had it. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Stop safely — that is the first step — then switch it off. Stripes lies under 3 miles from the M6; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pushing on for the services. Starting it again to check gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Call, saying how far your vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have had the car barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Cumbria.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies here — run or unrun — and one extra step. The owner often needs to approve any work, under plenty of hire and fleet agreements.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Keep the vehicle switched off as the reply arrives, even if you're parked at Wetheral or near Golden Fleece marching camp.
Stripes: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Which cap came off, you can't say; but the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Cumwhinton School, or on a friend's drive in Wetheral Pasture.
In short: spillage near your filler does your motor unharmed. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not start it. Tell us what you noticed on your phone. A clean tank checked counts as a happier result than a run one drained.
The common ground in every Stripes AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, a single opening applies. Wherever your car stands — Lowther Arms's car park, a road beside Cotehill Village Hall, a driveway, a filling station — the van gets there and asks about the fluid, the quantity, plus whether your engine has been run. Those replies settle the work, and you hear the quote on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Then the tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Next is the filter — flushed, or replaced where needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Not started? Then roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The final step is starting the engine. Our check that it runs properly on new diesel comes before we head off. When it's caught early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Stripes
Stripes is a small hamlet situated on the riverside in Cumbria, with a low elevation of around 70 metres. Stripes lies close to the city of Carlisle, approximately 4 miles away, and is near other local places such as Cocklakes and Cumwhinton. Stripes has a population of around 512 people and predominantly features detached housing.
AdBlue drains around Stripes, and across Cumbria too
Wetheral Shield and Cumwhinton have the same teams as Stripes, a rural hamlet, plus other places over CA postcodes. The whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts CA4 0.
Stopped heading to Baxter Fold, or right in the heart of Stripes, the vehicle stays put — there is no need to shift it at all. Wherever it stands, that is where it gets drained. Phone and check rather than guess if you're close to St John the Evangelist, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
Your situation, summed up
Where it has not run, ring and keep it off. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Stripes and anywhere around Cumbria on 0333 366 0103.